Life is not a game of Solitaire; people depend on one another. When one does well, others are lifted. When one stumbles, others also are impacted. There are no one-man teams—either by definition or natural law. Success is a cooperative effort; it’s dependent upon those who stand beside you.
Jon Huntsman, Essential Lessons on Leadership
The Higher Ed Technology Family | Integrator Insights
Coming off another successful HETMA Virtual Conference, let me take a break away from thoughts on running an in-house integration team. I thought I would take a moment to share some thoughts on our community. I love the community of higher education technology managers, I just do. Let me tell you why.
I spent the first 18+ years of my professional audiovisual career at a thriving integration firm. It was certainly exciting and fun, and I had world-class teammates all around me to collaborate with. When it came to community, however, the bubble of my teammates was pretty much the extent. Yes, we would certainly work with manufacturers and clients, and, yes, some of them were exceptional individuals to interact with, but they were not doing the same things we were doing. Suppliers and clients had different challenges and successes. Interacting with the people who faced the same adversities, other people doing what we were doing, was very limited. I get it, it is a competitive capitalistic world out there for integrators; while cordial to one another, we were also fierce competitors. The last thing you want to do is share the secrets of your success with the rivals.
Three years ago, I took my current role at Iowa State. I did engage to the AVIXA Technology Managers Council within six months or so, but it was almost a year before I really got it. It started at InfoComm 2019 at the Technology Managers Forum and Reception; I started to really meet and get to know my peers at other organizations (yep, that is all of you) – and you were so welcoming. But it really sunk in at CCUMC that year – higher education technology managers were truly a family (not to mention the fact I had an opportunity to shoot a cannon). That conference was much smaller and intimate, with lots of time to get to know the other attendees, and it was just a marvelous time. The feeling of community has continued to grow for me: involvement here in Higher Ed AV Media, the HETMA virtual conferences, James King’s HigherEd_AVIT Slack Channel, Twitter, and more. The feeling really hit a peak at InfoComm 21 this past October. Hanging out after hours with such incredible, kind, and sharing people was energizing. These will be lifelong memories. As my wife told me: “You have really found your people, haven’t you?” Yes, yes I have.
Contrasting with my industry experience, one of the things I love about our community is our willingness to share. Have a problem you are facing? Just throw your question into Slack, or the AVIXA Community, or the CCUMC listserv, or even out on Twitter. You’ll either get great answers or suggestions, or you’ll get commiseration – both of which are supportive and encouraging. I’m not ignorant of the fact higher education is an incredibly competitive market, and yet we also understand that we are all ultimately partners in the societal effort to prepare the next generation. Nobody is keeping secrets. Want to see my drawings? No problem! Need a hunk of code? Here it is! Need a recommendation? I’ve got some suggestions! Find a challenge to avoid? I’ll proactively let everyone know! Maybe some of you who have spent your whole career in higher education don’t realize how special that type of cooperation is, but I can tell you it is very unusual indeed!
The future is bright, too! Our collective efforts are not going unnoticed in the larger pro AV community, and as we continue to band together even more great things are going to happen. We are going to be increasingly welcomed to the AV community as peers, not just “end users.” We are going to see opportunities to improve our purchasing pathways and pricing structures. We are going to be able to increasingly influence the design and features of new products and services to best meet the needs of higher education (for example, “HETMA Approved”). We are going to produce a large cadre of recognized thought-leaders for the entire pro AV industry. As noted in the quote above, we are all being lifted. As Hellen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
So, I leave you with this: thank you! Thank you for creating a community of generous, helpful, supportive, like-minded individuals. And thank you for allowing me to be one of them.